Ministry of Land and Ministry of Environment Join Forces to Revitalize Coastal Tourism in Yeosu and Goheung

Aerial view of Geumui Si-bi Park, Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do. [Image provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]

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The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) is collaborating with the Ministry of Environment and three coastal cities/counties?Yeosu-si and Goheung-gun in Jeollanam-do, and Yeongdeok-gun in Gyeongsangbuk-do?to revitalize coastal tourism. Previously, MOLIT separately managed tourism infrastructure projects such as roads, parking lots, and observatories, while the Ministry of Environment independently developed and operated local government ecotourism programs. Going forward, the two ministries will integrate these programs through inter-agency cooperation.

On the 21st, MOLIT announced on the 20th that it will hold the 7th "Land-Environment Policy Council" meeting in Sejong with the Ministry of Environment. This council is a result of cooperation between MOLIT and the Ministry of Environment and includes participation from the Korea Ecotourism Council and related local governments.

At this meeting, the progress of the "Sustainable Coastal Development and Ecotourism Revitalization Pilot Project" will be reviewed. The discussion will focus intensively on ways to promote ecotourism in coastal areas. Until now, MOLIT has been implementing tourism infrastructure projects such as roads, parking lots, and observatories, while the Ministry of Environment has been separately developing and operating local government ecotourism programs. MOLIT plans to combine these two programs to effectively revitalize coastal tourism.

The pilot project targets three cities/counties: Yeosu-si and Goheung-gun in Jeollanam-do, and Yeongdeok-gun in Gyeongsangbuk-do.

Since April, MOLIT and the Ministry of Environment have held on-site discussions to promote the pilot project. Additionally, a comprehensive ecological survey was conducted on MOLIT’s coastal development project sites.

Starting in July, the two ministries, together with the Korea Ecotourism Council, have been conducting diagnostic projects to revitalize ecotourism in coastal areas. They analyzed the conditions for promoting ecotourism in the three selected cities/counties and began developing ecotourism programs tailored to the unique characteristics of each region. As a result, Yeosu-si chose "Yajaman mudflat experience and sunset observatory," Goheung-gun selected "bicycle travel," and Yeongdeok-gun decided on "pet-friendly travel" as their program themes.

Ahn Se-chang, Director of Land Policy at MOLIT, said, "We hope that the customized ecotourism programs for the three cities/counties will be operated smoothly and serve as a catalyst for revitalizing the local economy."

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